sas fron leaf spring chevy 52" questions

[koa's93ranger]

ok guys, im stuck. been searching for months and havent found the info im looking for.

everyone runs the 44044 leafs which i didnt want to do because i figured that chevy 52s would have more travel than waggy 44s or whatever length they are.

cant find a single person who has done chevy 52s in a rear shackle setup. i cant figure out how to make it work because the angle of the frame will put the pinion at an awful angle, unless of course i do a massive drop on the front which i do not want to do. plan is to have the leaf bolt at the very most 4" from the frame (2" cross member + hanger mount) but if need be i will throw in another 2" like wolhf 16 did (see post #9)
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37746

any pictures or tips on how to accomplish this or maybe another leaf option out there?

getting very close to starting my swap and this is a major speed bump in my design

thank you

 

[koa's93ranger]

oh ya...another question i had. that angle on the frame, is it the same across all years? seems like the ifs rangers have less of a slope than ttb rangers, whish would mean that my drop brackets would have to be even longer. is that about right?

 

[Ford78]

I might be easyer just to use the 44044 springs or go with some trailgear toyota springs.
I think it will be really hard to keep the pinion at the right angle.

 

[koa's93ranger]

haha just the guy i as looking for. just saw that you finished your build and was gonna send you a pm. did you have any issues with your pinion with how long your shackles are? are you using shims?

 

[koa's93ranger]

honestly though, how horrible is the ride with front shackles? gonna be street driven. i know kage has serious problems with it. is flex worth the trade off for crappy street ride quality with front shackle 52s. or does the 44044 flex good enough that i wouldnt notice a difference?

 

[koa's93ranger]

what about wagoneer 3" lift leafs? anyone have any experience with those? this seems like a killer deal. $180 a PAIR!

https://www.4wdfactory.com/store/products.php?product=Rough-Country-Jeep-J10,-J20,-Wagoneer-3"-Lift-Front-Leaf-Springs-(Pair)

 

[Ford78]

I did have to use shims, I went with the 3 degree shims so my caster would be at 6 degrees. I could of goten away from the shims if I would of gotten a small shackel instead of the 5in I have now.
For the ride I think it is pretty decent, I still would like to build a trac bar and maybe move my shackle mount a head alittle for a better angle. I think the 44044 flex pretty good foe a leaf spring.

 

[koa's93ranger]

what do you think about the 3" leaf i just posted? would it give me a slightly better lift? i like the height you have but my hanger will be welded to a 2x4 so i think you have more hanger drop than me. do you happen to have that measurment?

 

[Ford78]

I think the one you posted should give about the same lift as the rancho 44044. After work today ill give u the measurements of my front drop bracket.

 

[koa's93ranger]

The rough country says it has a 7.5" arch and the 44044 says it has a 6.58" arch. Shouldn't that make a difference?

And ya those measurements would be much appreciated. Just need to know how low your front spring bolt is from the bottom of the frame

 

[Ford78]

My front bracket from the bottom of the frame to the center of the bolt is 6 3/4 in. and i have a 5in rear shackel.

Those spring should provide about a 1 in. more lift.

If u need any more measurements feel free to ask and ill try to help the best i can

 

[koa's93ranger]

crap, i think my gen ranger has a steeper slope in the frame so that means im gonna need like an 8" or 9" drop. gonna have to find a buddy with a newer ranger to compare our frames. thank you for the measurement. now i have a good reference to start off from. think im gonna steal dieselsmoke's design and stack a second 2x4 under my crossmember to give me an extra 2" and run a 4" shackle. and if all else fails, i found an 8* shim on diy4x.com

as for leafs, i think im gonna go with the rough country. im sure quality isnt up to par with rancho since they cost half as much lol but i figure if its not enough lift, ill switch to chevy superlift 4" since itll bolt right up (same eye to eye length)

thanks again for the info